Archive | April, 2017

Ah, Endor. Beautiful ancient trees. Rebels and troopers on speeder bikes. The underestimated Ewoks. That dang bunker door.
I designed and made this for an Endor-loving girl as part of the 2017 May the 4th Mini Quilt Swap #MayThe4thMQS2. It measures 24″ x 24″. The design started with my illustration, then I applied some digital effects, put it in a grid, and drew strategic straight lines to make it into a foundation paper piecing (FPP) sewing pattern. It’s very similar to the Vader Quilt I made.

I like to get all organized before I sew. Five flat solids for the sky, some grungy teals for the Death Star, a couple greys, and 9 shades of green. The special yellow ruler and postcard from the Idaho Youth Ranch (a non-profit who helps out kids) are great tools to help me keep the seams nice and tidy on the back. Funny note about green #6: it’s leftover fabric from a goblin costume I made for my son years and years ago for Halloween. Another funny note about g6: every time I sewed with it, I sang to myself “like a g6, like a g6”

Sewing up the 5 1/4″ squares and getting them on the design board. I didn’t have enough of the aqua blue fabrics to make up the digital design I came up with, so I made the lightest color white instead.

It’s pretty hard to stop sewing once I get started. Foundation paper piecing (FPP) is addicting.

Five more blocks to go…

Almost done. For my design board, I tape some white flannel onto a sheet of foam core. Pretty perfect. I can push pins in it and easily move it around. And hel-lo, these grunges: so delish.

Blocks are done. Now to sew these puppies together.

My joining method: Sew into rows and press seams open. Leave paper on. Align rows right sides together on an ironing board, put a pin in the intersections and push it all the way in through the ironing board. Put clips on either side, remove the pins, and sew.

You cute wittle death star.

Not gonna lie – music is required for this part. Tearing out the paper is a bit tedious, but worth it to make the design come to life.

Up next, give these back seams a good pressing.

I went with simple straight quilting lines. If I were better at quilting stitches, I’d get a little creative, but it’s just not in my wheelhouse right now. Plus, simple straight lines look good on most anything. Plus, I wanted to be sure not to detract from the piecing design.

Binding time. For the back I used a simple black and white cotton print.

I really really love this tree. The colors. The shape. I’m envisioning a little Ewok hiding in there somewhere.

I just made this pillow for my daughter. Her favorite animal from her favorite video game = Easter perfection. She loves playing the Stardew Valley video game (so do I), so I know she’s going to flip when I give this to her. It’s a 16″ pillow that will go great in her bedroom.

I used Adobe Illustrator to make Eric Barone’s design come to life. I also mocked up a bouquet, which I may make later on. Or wouldn’t it be a cool cross-stitch?

I gathered some solid fabrics and printed my map.

I started the layout on the design wall and I got that anxious excited feeling since I knew it was going to turn out so cute!

I filled in the background with larger squares, tile-style.

Then simple, meditative sewing.

These seams are small (1/8″), and I like to press them open for ease in quilting later on. This mini iron is so, so perfect for this task.